Dumpster Diving and SCIENCE!
JFX A large, flat, open space is surrounded by crudely constructed control towers, bunkers, hangars, and a passenger terminal. A quick glance around JFX Interplanetary Spaceport - named in honor of the Autobot-turned-Junkion who once led the faction - is enough to make anyone wonder how this species ever developed spaceflight. A collection of shuttles, Junkion and otherwise, litter the landing pad. Over the gates of the spaceport rests a monumental, roughly-hewn piece of grey translucent glass; a placard underneath bears an engraved image of Unicron's floating head, and this inscription: "Remember, don't play with Junkion Spacecraft: they'll put your eye out! CYCLES PRIOR.. Contrail, Scrapper, and Contagion confront a Galvatron Tablet monster after the Constructicon inserted the bug drive into his datapad. Suffice to say, things went a little wonky. Afterward, Contrail suggested the Decepticons check out the planet Junk for clues to the identity of this.. Galvatron Jr! Likewise, the Autobots had been sheperded by Perceptor's findings in this delicate and rather unique matter. All signs point to the planet Junk, for this is the origin of the tiny tyrant's complex and compressed armor. NOW.. The Decepticon shuttle touches down outside the Junkion spaceport. Thrusters kick off with an audible boom, a slight thud as the vehicle eases down to the ground. Turning from the pilot, Scrapper unstraps himself from the co-pilot's chair and approaches the rear of the craft. "We are here for clues, keep this in mind.. warriors." he cautions, exiting the craft down the ramp. When he appears outside though, it's a bit ghastly. What with the cloak up, it's as if the Constructicon appears from thin air! Motormaster was in the back of the shuttle, along for the ride and basically brought along as muscle, not his good looks. Boomslang is one of the seeker contingent that accompany Decepticon missions pretty much anywhere, except for the ones that have a sweep contingent instead (the ones that only Scourge cares about). He follows the other Decepticons quietly, apart from a muttered, "I hate this stupid trash planet." Bluestreak joins Perceptor and Hubcap on a trip to the planet Junk. Out of the three, he was more of a warrior than the other two are, but it didn't make him any less jittery. He has yet to confront the one called Galvatron Jr., but he sounded as formidible and scary as the real Galvatron. Hubcap's hands move gracefully across the control panels of the shuttlecraft, monitoring the sensors and communications panels. "Personally," he comments over his shoulder at Perceptor, "I don't think you need my assistance, but our superiors thought an Intel presence was required, so... ah." With a few adjustments, he calls up an image of the Decepticon ship. "We have company." Perceptor had taken it upon himself to travel to Junkion in attempt to find out who or what had created the strange miniature Galvatron clone. Since he had been able to determine that the armor fragment he'd procured had originated from the planet of Junk, he had deemed this planet a good place to start. There is even a chance that whoever is responsible for the creation of the replica is still here. Or perhaps, the Junkions might have some information that will be useful. The Autobot vessel touched down onto the planet's rugged surface as the comms officer informed the others of the Decepticon presence. "Hmm..." Perceptor wasn't surprised, he'd predicted that they'd be able to come to the same conclusion as he had, since they'd also procured a piece of the clone's armor. "This is a recon mission, do not engage unless self-defense becomes necessary." He says as he begins disembarking. "Orders?" Joystick asks after them, the voice eerily coming from the cloaked ship. "Power down engines, but keep minimal systems online to monitor traffic and be vigilant." Scrapper orders, keeping to the outskirts of the airport in lieu of their scrap yards. They'd surmised the metal came from Junk, but truth be told.. their samples were dated and in poor condition. If a proper specimen could be cross referenced, or Junkion interrogated, all the better. "I do not enjoy this expedition either, Boomslang. Yet we have a task set before us, none the less." the Constructicon replies. "Right," Boomslang replies as he checks the grenades clipped to the D-rings built onto his body here and there, and counts his ammunition. "Gotta get our war faces on." He glances at Motormaster and adds, "Apart from him. Motormaster's always got his war face." Motormaster followed behind Scrapper and looked around in disgust at this planet. It wasn't one of his more favorite places to go to, to vacation and this was definately no vacation. He'd had to be stuck in a shuttle with 'those' two for the entire trip with nothing to entertain him. Looking down at Boomslang after that last remark, he snarls, thrusting one fist into another as if threatening violence if the jerk didn't straighten up and fly right with his mouth. Hubcap shrugs a shoulder. "Believe me, Perc, playing nice is /not/ a problem." Spinning around in his chair, he jumps to his feet. "So, metallurgical analysis on the armour fragment leads us here, any way to narrow that down? Scanners? Or asking the natives?" Regardless of their peaceful intentions, he keeps an audio out. "Decepticons?" It seems inevitable that Decepticons would show up whereever they were at. "I don't know Percy, I think we would have to engage them sooner than later." Bluestreak told Perceptor as remembers all the other times they were in the same place as the Decepticons. It usually boils down to a fight- something he doesn't see changing. Perceptor nods. "I do, Hubcap. And I am glad both of you do not have difficulties with restraining yourselves." At least, according to previous record. "I believe we shall begin our investigation by speaking with the Junkions." He says in response to Hubcap. "However, remain alert. The Decepticons are prone to wanton aggression..." When Bluestreak voices his concerns he sighs. "I suppose you are correct, but combat should be avoided if it all possible. It may very well be that they have come here for the same purpose we have." Arr-K-Ick saunters up to the Autobots, trusty I-Beam in hand and a pile of scrap in the other.. all balled up. "'Ello gov'nuh, 'ow are ah?" he chuckles, dropping the balled up scrap. Giving the crude 'ball' a knock with his I-Beam, it sails through the air and dances dangerously close to the hole. "Why don't you just go home? That's your home! Are you too good for your home?!?" he chastises the makeshift golfball, before returning his attention to Perceptor. "Want me to take you to our leader?" he smiles. Boomslang holds up his hands in the universal 'don't hit me' gesture. "Ease down, Sarge, I'm just saying, when they made your face they had war in mind. You look real... masculine. Scrapper, I'll take point." He spreads out from the landing site to survey the area, disappearing into the heaped and rusted landscape as soon as he goes behind a mound of trash, almost as if he was a native. Scrapper hrms, picking up a sheet to examine. He'd task the others to collect samples, but they didn't exactly bring a force long enough to maintain and keep a tidy perimeter. Certain procurements will have to be done in the field, analyzation as well. Motormaster's quietness piques the Constructicon's attention, mainly because that means he's looking for a fight or an excuse to wail on something relentlessly. "Motormaster, keep optics towards the spaceport.. report findings. Boomslang, be.." he attempts to order, then notices the Conehead has disappeared from sight. Shrugging, Scrapper goes back to casually digging his way into a junk pile for proper comparisons. Motormaster pulls out his gun just for effect and raises an eye ridge as Scrapper orders him around but simply grunts an acknowledgement. He turns slightly, his optics searching the spaceport and hrmphs as he sees the Autobot shuttle with three Autobots and one Junkticon on the other side of it. "Autobots, dead ahead at the spaceport. Three Bots and one Junker...One looks like that nerdbot I wanted to clock the other day," he says with a malicious smirk to his features but he doesn't move. Normally he'd be ready to just head off at full speed to go engage the enemy but today, he's playing it cool for once. Bluestreak has very little experience with the Junkions. So he watches the Junkion that came up to them playing with... the balled up scrap, and watches as he beams it away. He looks at Perceptor, letting him answer the Junkion first- since the gunner considers Percy as the one leading this mission, recon or not. Perceptor turns to the Junkion. "Yes, please." he nods. "We simply need to make a few inquiries regarding a sample procured from a clone of Galvatron. It has been terrorizing human settlements as well as attacking Autobot fortifcations." Hubcap nods across at Bluestreak and comments "That means, don't attack, but retaliate." Disembarking from the ship, he ducks as a ball gets sent sailing skywards. "Was that what you guys were doing yesterday?" "If you can, stalk close.. but don't move in yet. Still trying to find a good match." Scrapper asides from the pile, throwing it all around in a hurried mess. The term Nerdbot doesn't offend him, but rather draws his interest. Letting it settle for awhile, he cranes his neck to the side to get a good view. "Perceptor." he quietly intones. "If they engage, leave nothing but destruction in your path. BUT." Scrapper adds, finally finding a good enough sheet metal chunk to analyze. "Leave the 'nerdbot' to me." Plunking down, the Constructicon pulls their sample of Galvatron Jr's armor from subspace and begins the delicate process. Where has Boomslang gotten himself off to?? <> Boomslang transmits back to Scrapper, moving quietly through the junk on sealed shocks and rubberized joints to observe while remaining unseen. <> Combat: Boomslang analyzes Perceptor for weaknesses Scrapper can exploit. Motormaster smirks as Scrapper gets who he was talking about, "Fine." Then he begins moving in a way that seems, obvious to where he is. Is that on purpose? But he never seems to 'approach' but does stay within firing distance of his cannon and gun. He seems to be moving in a casual fashion, almost disinterested in engaging them, simply keeping them occupied in watching him. Motormaster says, "Boomslang, though I dislike you, you're unseen. You can get closer while I keep their optics on me...." Boomslang says, "You dislike everybody, you don't have to include that part, it's understood. You want target data on Hubcap or Bluestreak? Bluestreak's better-armed but you're the boss." Bluestreak shakes his head at Hubcap's question. "I only heard about the match after." It would have been fun to play, it sounded like it was, to hear how it was told yesterday. He paid attention to the conversation between Perceptor and the Junkion, wondering if they can find the source of the menace here. Motormaster says, "Bluestreak. He's gonna be the biggest threat of those three." "Out of the office till Monday, I'm afraid!" Arr-K-Ick reports, casually tossing the I-Beam over his back and walking up to the Autobot troop. In the background, a Junkion grumbles about getting hit over the head with the crude golf club. Some rush to his aid, smothering him in 'Soup for the Soul' and 'Oprah' quotes. Shrugging, Arr-K-Ick merely replies "Somebody's got a case of the MONDAYS!" "Anyways chaps, I'll have my crack team of deviants, criminals, and despots gather your samples Right-O-Way!" he cheers, clapping his hands. Hubcap shrugs lightly as he watches the Junkion suspiciously. "I only heard it, but it didn't seem like my sort of game." Turning to the Junkion he nods in a friendly manner, "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." "Acknowledged and logged, my thanks." Scrapper hrms to Boomslang's report. It's a shame Mirage isn't as adequate a scout as the Decepticon Commando, otherwise.. the Decepticons might be a little more weary of Predator-esque invisible blurs. Looking up, the Constructicon adds the channel chatter in with Motormaster's almost 'casual' manner in approaching them. Good ole bait and switch. With the two others occupied with sending the opposition home in pieces, Scrapper takes out a small red microscope from subspace and starts comparing the two fragments. Boomslang carefully circles the Autobots, staying out of sight but maneuvering to get a position from which he can observe Bluestreak and paint him with his infrared guidance lasers. He sends the data off to Motormaster, giving him an "X-ray" view of the Autobot even through intervening terrain. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Bluestreak for weaknesses Motormaster can exploit. Motormaster does move in a little closer, trying to tune in his audios to see if he can hear what is being said but its not his true talent nor is it his mission but hey, any bit can help and maybe earn him kudo points later....or something to bargin with later. Finally making his way around to the side of the Autobots shuttle, he walks towards it, still keeping a distance between the autobots and himself. Wouldn't it be awful if they couldn't take off due to some complicaiton....? "And right as rain, they'll be here in thirty minutes or less.. or it's FREE!" Arr-K-Ick dutifully reports to Bluestreak and Hubcap. Looking sideways, the Junkion tries to find some makeshift junk to use as golf clubs, in case the Autobots want to join him in some senseless fun. Since no one on Junk can really count, so it's hard keeping score. Arr-K-Ick rounds the Autobot shuttle, stepping dangerously close to MOTORMASTER!! "Thanks." It was all Bluestreak could say to the Junkion, finding his manner of speaking odd. Still, the native has been nothing but friendly to them so far. He swore he could hear something shuffling closer, and feeling much more on guard, he strains his audios. It could just be a curious Junkion after all. Or not- as he remembers Hubcap's report from earlier. He starts to circle around their docked ship, looking for who would be so close by. Hubcap pulls a portable metallurgical testing kit from the subspace pocket he probably shouldn't have and starts drifting away to test the metal in different areas, working on the assumption that there might be stockpiles of similar materials grouped together. Perceptor nods at Arr-K-Ick, similing politely. "Excellent. I look forward to speaking with them." He draws the sample from subspace. "This is a fragment of the clone's armor we managed to obtain following the clone's attack upon the human settlement of New York. Analysis has revealed that the material originated here, on Junkion. Have you or any of your people taken notice of any suspicious activity recently?" he asks, presenting the Junkions with the sample. Meanwhile, some of the ships' weaponry are moving ever so slightly, the turrets' barrels following Motormaster as he circled the ship. Perceptor had anticipated Decepticons showing up near their unattended ship and attempting to sabotage it, so he'd taken the time to code some simple AI programming into the ship's weapons systems. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to aim his next attack. Deep in analysis, the going ons go unnoticed for now by the Constructicon leader. For now, he's deeply immersed in cross referencing these two samples. One, then the other. One, then the other. The back and forth, Scrapper swaps the samples out to inspect the comparative sample. "Capital!" he excitedly exclaims, he'd smile if there wasn't that clunky faceplate in the way. "Nigh identical, chances of it originating from somewhere else is less than point zero zero one." Suddenly his head swivels around, towards the Autobots. Muttering something into his comm link, Scrapper hands his samples off to the other gumbies and meanders towards them. Scrapper says, "Motormaster, capture that Junkion alive!" Not having expected the Junkticon to come around the shuttlecraft Motormaster moves quickly and strikes out, trying to grab Arr-K-Ick by the neck. Scrap. This was not what he wanted to happen just yet but...he was in for it now because he can hear another's feet moving around the other side of the shuttle and is about to find out who else is about to crash the party. Contrail says, "Killing them for sure is rather difficult, though. As long as you get most of the pieces, it's probably still alive? I'm not sure if the pieces even need to be connected..." Motormaster says, "Slaggit! Leave it to a Junkhead to stumble into the wrong spot." <> Boomslang predicts. << I'll take the gunner and try to keep him busy.>> Advancing into the Autobot perimeter, he silently slides his combat knife out of its compartment in his wrist and stalks towards Bluestreak, slipping through the Junkions milling around. As Motormaster goes for Arr-K-Ick Boomslang makes his move, breaking into a dash which reveals him moments before he lunges at Bluestreak from behind, his knife aimed low to try to cut his fuel lines and hamper him from unleashing his full firepower. Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Boomslang strikes Bluestreak with his Kidney Shanking attack! Bluestreak steps around the ship, as whoever was there stopped moving. He quickly moved around, pointing his blaster at the them. Before he could do anything else though, he felt a knife get jammed into his side. He yelled in pain as he went down, his pistol dropping out of his hand. He wasn't going to go down doing nothing though, he tried to do a back kick to his attacker, hoping to get some retaliation back. Combat: Bluestreak strikes Boomslang with his Kick attack! "I spy with my little eye, somethi.." Arr-K-Ick starts to muse, eyeing a particularly nice helicopter blade that'd be nice for slicing.. though his discovery will be cut short, as he's hauled up to the Stunticon's height. "ACK.. GAH.. SHK!" the Junkion chokes out, flailing around in his grasp. Hubcap skids down the side of a scrapheap, away from the known Decepticon presence. Ah, so, /this/ is why Intel wanted him along. The Minibot throws around comms transmissions, and tries to gain an advantage. As soon as Motormaster attempts to grab Arr-K-Ick, the turret nearest to him opens fire. Perceptor probably wouldn't have preferred this, but he'd been in a bit of a rush while inputting the codes as well as thinking about -everything- else the Autobots were being forced to deal with right now. It had simply been an additional precaution he'd thought to take, since it wouldn't take too much effort on his part. Perceptor stumbles back a little bit, startled by the sudden attack upon the Junkion he had been addressing. "Arr-K-Ick!" So much for avoiding combat. Well, he should have expected this to happen, anyway. He just hopes he can still manage to get the Junkion's side of this clone business. Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Perceptor strikes Motormaster with his Rudimentary ship AI attack! -2 Hearing well the incoming volley, Scrapper grabs the Junkion close and leaps out of the way. Well, mostly. Some of the scrap has inbedded itself into his large round altmode tires. As well, the debris has almost severed Arr-K-Ick in half. Rising, with the Junkion in hand, the Constructicon pursues his line of questioning. "Tell me who, and your end will be quick!" he cackles, landing a jab into the Junkion's gut. "Gah.. Airilbots." Arr-K-Ick chokes out, then succumbs to systems shutdown. Tossing him aside, for something to do later, the Constructicon gleefully wipes his hands of Junkion energon-blood. "Can't you see you're outmatched here, Perceptor? Certainly even you are capable of such calculations." he goads again, firing a shot off quickly. Combat: Scrapper misses Perceptor with his Quickshot! (Laser) attack! Perceptor manages to recover from Motormaster's previous attack quickly enough to roll out of the way when the Stunticon's foot servo comes flying his way. He gets back to his feet as quickly as he can, dodging Scrapper's shots as well. Good, it would seem he has forgotten the Junkion for now. Perhaps later he could take him to be repaired at Autobot city, and question him there... He again ducks behind another one of the copious piles of scrap, as his energon reserves are getting a bit low. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to steady himself. Pass The gunner slides back from the explosion from the bomb, adding on to the injury. Bluestreak slowly got up, feeling the energon loss. If Boomslang wants to play for keeps, then he got it, deciding to hit the airborne Con with some electricity. Combat: Bluestreak misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Volt Beam attack! Scrapper says, "In due time, my dear Motormaster. For now, he's incapacitated. Bend Perceptor to your will." Hubcap starts to beat a roundabout retreat back towards the shuttle, seeing as he's not going to affect any combat outcome on his own, but maybe if he can get to the shuttle's armaments. Scorn says, "Save some pieces, if you will. I do so love the taste of the smarter ones." Pulling the 'Royal Ray' from subspace again, Scrapper arms the weapon and readies another volley. "Too much going on at once to keep this up, Perceptor?" he laughs, readying a shot. But then he detaches himself from the mindless violence that may or may not end with Autobot sofas. With the mission accomplished, more or less, he's still got a potential victim to torture endlessly to his core's desire. So with one fell swoop, Scrapper picks the Junkion up and makes his way back to the shuttle. Combat: Scrapper begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Motormaster, F/A-18 Super Hornet , and Perceptor Scrapper says, "When you're done toying with them, we can go." F/A-18 Super Hornet rolls through the lightning strokes cracking up from the ground and drops chaff to deflect further missile launches as he extends away from the battle. "You're lucky we've got places to be!" Boomslang calls down to Bluestreak before he gets out of range. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Motormaster sees Scrapper beginning to retreat but decides to take one last shot at Perceptor before beating a retreat himself. He aims his cannon again at the pile of scrap Perceptor dove behind. "Hey NERD...Next time, I'll just crush you into a compact little cube instead of play with you like a cyberrat....Better pray we don't cross paths again." Combat: Motormaster misses Perceptor with his Just Wanted to Show 'im my Cannon! attack! -3 Perceptor is glad they're retreating, though he feels sorry for the poor Junkion he can do nothing about. As Scrapper is making his back to his ship, he moves into the Autobot ship's line of fire. The turrets whirr as they turn and fire on his retreating form. Motormaster fires, but Perceptor holds a large, dense piece of scrap up that takes the brunt of the damage. He sighs. "Now, I am certain there are others who may be able to offer some insight on the creation of the clone..." He then wanders off in search of someone else to answer his questions, muttering to himself. Combat: Perceptor strikes Scrapper with his Rudimentary ship AI's parting shots (Laser) attack! Hubcap darts back past the scrap-heap that matched the readings and pauses, thrusting a hand into the mound and heaving some onto his shoulder before he continues back to the shuttle. "This better be worth it," he grumbles. Combat: Hubcap begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Bluestreak, Motormaster, Scrapper, F/A-18 Super Hornet , and Perceptor Bluestreak snarled oh so slightly at the retreating form of Boomslang, falling to his knees as he really felt the pain on his side now. Not wanting to look weak, he got up again, and looks for Perceptor, he heads to the ship now. Combat: Bluestreak begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Motormaster, Scrapper, F/A-18 Super Hornet , and Perceptor Scrapper is hit, though he used Arr-K-Ick to take the brunt of the damage. Stumbling onto the ship, the Constructicon drops the ripped up Junkion to the floor and makes it to the co-pilot chair. "Joystick, prep engines.. we're leaving." Outside, the cloaking field on the vanishes.. rear thrusters thrumming to life. Motormaster growls and realizes he needs to get aboard the shuttle or he'll get left behind. He books it across the concourse and to where they left the shuttle hidden in a cloaking device. He glances behind him, growling. Combat: Motormaster begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F/A-18 Super Hornet and Perceptor F/A-18 Super Hornet swoops down and transforms to land in the door of the shuttle, gives the Autobots a rude gesture, and snaps the door shut after himself as he ducks inside. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. As the Decepticon shuttle lifts off the planet Junk, with Arr-K-Ick in tow, the Autobots can be seen conversing with the other Junkions as to this strange missing shipment of metal. Not as informative of our dearly departed Junkion typist, they do however inform Perceptor and company that the only matching inventory was taken by an Aerialbot and pink femme. Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!